Tag Archive for: valley

Hillicon Valley – Biden budget boosts antitrust funding

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Today is Monday. Welcome to Hillicon Valley, detailing all you need to know about tech and cyber news from Capitol Hill to Silicon Valley. Subscribe here.

Let’s get to it.

President Biden is proposing funding increases for the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Department of Justice (DOJ)’s antitrust division as part of his $5.8 trillion proposal released Monday. 

Biden’s 2023 budget would increase the DOJ’s antitrust division funding by $88 million and the FTC’s by $139 million. 

The White House called it a “historic” increase in a fact sheet, saying it “reflects the Administration’s commitment to vigorous marketplace competition through robust enforcement of antitrust law.” 

The requests to increase the funding come as the DOJ and FTC push forward with antitrust cases against tech giants, including Google and Facebook parent company Meta. 

Recent White House warnings urging the private sector to shore up its cyber defenses have experts questioning why U.S. officials haven’t already defined what constitutes cyberwarfare.  

Although the experts praised the warnings, they said that the Biden administration should also prioritize defining what the thresholds are for retaliating against a major cyberattack.  

“We have to set up rules of engagement that are absolute, saying any cyberattack that is associated with a [hacking group] loosely tied with the Russian government or the Chinese government will immediately trigger the following actions,” said Emil Sayegh, president and CEO of data security firm Ntirety.  

The experts were weighing in on recent warnings issued by the White House urging critical sectors to prepare for possible Russian cyberattacks following new U.S. intelligence suggesting that the Kremlin is exploring “options for potential cyberattacks” against critical infrastructure. 

Read more here. 

 

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MUSK MULLING TWITTER RIVAL

Tesla Inc. CEO Elon MuskElon Reeve MuskNASA announces renewed competition for moon mission contracts Equilibrium/Sustainability — Students create filter to remove lead from tap water On The Money — White…

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Valley Regional Transit says ransomware put personal info at risk

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The agency in charge of public bus service in the Treasure Valley said it has begun notifying the more than 500 people who may be affected.

BOISE, Idaho — A ransomware attack against Valley Regional Transit in October may have compromised personal information of 535 of the transit agency’s employees, contractors and customers.

VRT, which operates public transit in Ada and Canyon counties, said Friday that upon learning of the attack, the agency immediately began working with cybersecurity experts to investigate and help VRT contain the threat and secure its systems. VRT also said it has begun notifying the people whose information may have been subject to unauthorized access.

VRT on Friday said the following about what the investigation revealed as well as the response:

  • Cybercriminals had accessed VRT’s computer network and removed some data before deploying the ransomware in October 2021.
  • The affected data may have included individuals’ names, addresses, birthdates, and Social Security or driver’s license numbers.
  • VRT is offering credit-monitoring services at no cost to people whose driver’s license or Social Security numbers were involved.
  • The breach did not interrupt payroll processes or transportation services.
  • VRT notified the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Transportation Security Administration of this incident and has been providing regular updates to Idaho regulators.

VRT said it did not have sufficient contact information to provide written notice to a small number of affected individuals. The agency is asking people with any questions, and wanting to determine if their information was involved in the breach, to call the following number: 208-258-2777. Hours are 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. MT, Monday through Friday.

“We are committed to protecting the security of our systems as well as personal information about our employees, vendors and customers,” said Kelli Badesheim, Valley Regional Transit’s executive director. “VRT wants to make sure an…

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Hillicon Valley — Presented by Connected Commerce Council — Microsoft disrupts Chinese hacking effort

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Today is Monday. Welcome to Hillicon Valley, detailing all you need to know about tech and cyber news from Capitol Hill to Silicon Valley. Subscribe here: thehill.com/newsletter-signup.

Follow The Hill’s cyber reporter, Maggie Miller (@magmill95), and tech team, Chris Mills Rodrigo (@millsrodrigo) and Rebecca Klar (@rebeccaklar_), for more coverage.

Microsoft hit the ground running at the top of a new work week, announcing that it had disrupted a Chinese hacking group that had targeted organizations in almost 30 countries, including the United States, with a focus on human rights groups and think tanks, among others.

Meanwhile, a new analysis found that the Russian hackers behind last year’s SolarWinds hack haven’t slowed down their efforts, and the planned merger of former President Trump’s new media company and another group is under investigation.

Let’s jump into the news.

Microsoft moves to block Chinese hackers

Microsoft on Monday announced that a federal court had granted a request to allow it to seize websites being used by a Chinese-based hacking group that was targeting organizations in the United States and 28 other nations.

International focus: The hacking group, which Microsoft has dubbed “Nickel,” was observed to be targeting think tanks, human rights organizations, government agencies and diplomatic organizations for intelligence gathering purposes.

The court order unsealed Monday in the Eastern District of Virginia allowed the Microsoft Digital Crimes Unit to take control of the websites used by Nickel and redirect the traffic to Microsoft servers. Customers impacted by the hacking efforts have been notified.

“Obtaining control of the malicious websites and redirecting traffic from those sites to Microsoft’s secure servers will help us protect existing and future victims while learning more about Nickel’s activities,” Tom Burt, the corporate vice president of Customer Security and Trust at Microsoft, wrote in a blog post published Monday.

“Our disruption will not prevent Nickel from continuing other hacking activities, but we do believe we have removed a key piece of the infrastructure the group has been relying on for this latest wave of attacks,” Burt…

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Valley News – Malware on employee’s company computer led to cyber attack on UVM Medical Center

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One afternoon in late October, the information technology department at the University of Vermont Medical Center started receiving reports of glitching computer systems across its network.

Employees reported they were having trouble logging into business and clinical applications.

Some reported the systems weren’t working at all. Within a few hours, the IT department began to suspect the hospital was experiencing a cyberattack.

The possibility was very much on the IT team’s radar, as several other major hospital networks nationwide fell victim to cyberattacks earlier last fall.

Immediately, UVM Medical Center cut off all internet connections to the network to protect what data it could. Soon after, the department discovered a text file on a network computer, apparently left by the perpetrators of the attack.

“It basically said: ‘We encrypted your data; if you wanna get the key to un-encrypt it, contact us,’ ” explained Doug Gentile, senior VP of network information technology at the medical center. “There was no specific ransom note, no specific dollar amount or anything like that, it was just: ‘Here’s how you contact us.’ ”

The department immediately contacted the FBI and opted not to reach out to the attackers. “Even if you contact them, even if you pay them, you have no guarantee they’re gonna deliver anything,” Gentile said.

Over the ensuing weeks, UVM Medical Center worked closely with the FBI to investigate the source of the attack while the hospital operated without access to most of its data for several weeks.

“Of course we have standard procedures for if systems go down, but being down for two to three weeks is beyond what we ever expect. It was stressful for people,” Gentile said. The attack cost the hospital between $40 million and $50 million, mostly in lost revenue.

But it could have been worse.

“While it was a significant inconvenience and a big financial hit, the fact that no data was breached was huge,” Gentile said. When the cyberattack was discovered, hospital officials feared patient data could be stolen. Things like Social Security numbers, insurance information, and medical records were all on the line.

Often, in cases like…

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